House of Cards
by My Hopeless Romantic
Summary: He was the king of hearts falling for the queen of spades. Sooner or later, the house of cards would fall. #38
1. King of Hearts

**Disclaimer:** All recognizable characters belong to Tachibana Higuchi. This story is mine.

**Author's Note: **This is just a short fic that I wrote on a whim. Funnily enough, I was inspired by the word **_Androphobia _**- the fear of men. The chapters will be short, no more than five hundred words long and about ten chapters in total. Happy reading everyone :)

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><p><em><strong>House of Cards<br>Chapter 1: King of Hearts **_

-;-

There are days he reflects on his life and wonders if he's had a good run.

He doesn't have the cleanest of reputations.

The 'playboy' attached to his name amongst the whispers about his character are a testament to that. But he was a hormonal teenage boy when his reputation began. Could anyone blame him for the natural kinks in his human body?

Despite the disgusted remarks in front of other girls, most of his friends thought it impressive.

Some people called him disgusting and chauvinistic; others had more creative words to describe him.

He liked women. It wasn't a game he was playing. The girls he fooled around with knew what they were getting themselves into when they signed up for the ride. He never made the mistake of letting them assume and with expectations aside, he made certain to make every minute enjoyable.

"_This won't last. You know this right?"_

The response varied, but it didn't differ by much.

The number of girls he turned away almost rivalled how many he kept around.

Pleasure—it was fleeting, like a shy bird in the face of unfamiliar company, like the taste of watermelons after the last bite.

There was no reason to expect any more than just that. He wasn't at the Academy half the time to be interested in anyone past the superficial and if there was one thing he learnt from being with the other Dangerous Ability types, it was that getting attached could only lead to trouble.

He didn't have a problem with that. He wasn't interested in getting attached.

He was the king of hearts.

—He supposed it was only a matter of time for that logic to bite him in the ass.


	2. Queen of Spades

**Disclaimer:** All recognizable characters belong to Tachibana Higuchi. This story is mine.

**Author's Note: **The response for the last chapter was much more enthusiastic than I expected. Thank you so much guys. I really appreciate the reviews! (: To make one thing clear before the rest of the story begins, this is a canon-ish story, so keep that in mind when you're making your assumptions. Again, these chapters are going to be less than five hundred words each and it's officially ten chapters long to be updated every two days. It'll be completed before Christmas day. Happy reading (:

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><p><em><strong>House of Cards<br>Chapter 2: Queen of Spades**_

-;-

He doesn't remember the first time he sees her because, if he's being honest, 'love at first sight' and 'she is the most beautiful girl I've ever met' never quite applied to him.

He knew her from early middle school as the perfectionist, the one that knew all of the answers but waited until the silence stretched long before providing the suitable response. He didn't have any particular feelings toward her and he was perfectly content with the knowledge that the feelings, or lack thereof, were mutual.

There were girls perfectly willing and eager to capture his attention and as a young teenage boy, there really wasn't much more he could ask for.

The earliest memory he had of the both of them was clear.

She was getting off of the Central Town bus and heading toward him and the Middle School Building when his friend mentioned she was a Hana Hime member, one quickly gaining respect and affection from the barrier goddess herself.

He didn't know what came over him, but the minute she got to their table, he shot his mouth off. The words he said weren't clear, but he wouldn't be surprised if they were laced with innuendo.

She slowly looked over, perfect hair and all, to stare at him with penetrating, unamused eyes. He remembered thinking her annoying. She was emotionless when pretty pink lips parted and said: "Careful, that big mouth of yours will get you in trouble one day."

He thought himself so smart then.

"I'm not worried. No girl has ever complained about my mouth before. If you'd like, I'd be happy to demonstrate."

He wasn't stupid enough to believe she would actually take him up on his offer, but he certainly wasn't expecting her to turn to him with a smile. "You," her voice was low and sultry. Immediately, a strange sensation overtook his entire body. "It appears you've adopted the abominable nature known to the male persuasion and lack the proper traits of an acceptable human being. No worry, I am an exceptional educator." Her eyes glinted. "Let me teach you."

When he recalled the memory and those words, it was enough to get him hot and bothered, especially when she wore those naughty librarian glasses.

"Lesson one," she said with a smirk in her voice, "Keep your mouth shut and your head down in a lady's presence."

His jaw automatically snapped shut and before he knew it, his hair was in front of his eyes due to his bowed head.

He didn't need to know her well to know she was smug.

_Bitch. _

Her voice was saturated with mirth. "Do remember this."

Then she left and it wasn't until she disappeared into the Middle School Building that the spell she had on him wore off.

His friends laughed.

All he could think was, _apparently trouble starts with an S. _


	3. Jack of Clovers

**Disclaimer:** All recognizable characters belong to Tachibana Higuchi. This story is all mine.

**Author's Note:** The tenses change in this chapter and depict the beginning of present thoughts rather than reflections on the past like the last chapter and a half. Happy reading (:

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><p><em><strong>House of Cards<br>Chapter 3. Jack of Clovers**_

-;-

Their relationship was a strange one, but it never tired him.

He thought they might have been friends, but surely friends saw each other more often than he saw her. His life was messy. With missions nearly five times a week, he was lucky to see Academy grounds eight times a month.

But seeing her once a month, with the scathing remarks and the feeling of fleeting warmth and laughter in his chest, was enough to make him look forward to those dozen or so minutes of ease.

Their relationship was a strange one, but it never tired him… not like his relationship with other girls. Many were clingy enough to dissolve into tears at the sight of him leaving, others called him an asshole for not being able to change his bad boy ways and very few were glad to see him go.

He was in high school, then, and Academy life was stifling. He felt like one of those pitiful characters in those ridiculous films girls clamoured to see.

He was lost, trying to find himself, or some bullshit like that.

It was the only explanation for the dull comings and goings of life. Was a seventeen year old supposed to feel like this, lifeless? If he had an emotion then, it was confliction. What was he doing?

He'd wondered what it would take for him to _feel _again.

Women used to be enough to solve that problem and he never had a problem finding one that was willing.

But it wasn't enough anymore.

There were plenty of girls eager and willing to satisfy him at Alice Academy—

—But he knew he was in trouble when his mind was stuck on one.

She doesn't know—doesn't have a clue. He doesn't know why it's her of all people. No, that isn't true. He's gone after the library type and the tall beauties, the glasses type and the ambitious ones, but never has he found a girl that embodies all four. Perhaps he merely finds her interesting—a challenge. It doesn't help that she's gorgeous.

Too bad she knows it and doesn't care.

Too bad she knows him and won't fall for his lines.

Too bad he likes her and _she hates men._

It really is just his luck. For years he's had it easy with women to make way for the hardest obstacle of all.


	4. Wild Card

**Disclaimer:** All recognizable characters belong to Tachibana Higuchi. This story is mine.

**Author's Note: **Christmas is so close, I can taste it. As an early Christmas present, I'll update this daily instead. Reading reviews everyday keeps me motivated to finish the rest of this semester once and for all, so posting everyday is going to be more for my benefit than yours, haha. (: Happy reading, as always, and thank you for the reviews! Happy reading, lovelies (:

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><p><em><strong>House of Cards<br>Chapter 4: Wild Card**_

-;-

His attempts to woo her begin with half-hearted methods he's always known to be successful, but she doesn't take him seriously.

She rolls her eyes and tells him to cut it out.

She uses her alice to make him leave her alone.

She is infuriating, but that doesn't deter him in the least. If he's ever doubted his feelings at all, _this _has to mean something. For all of the wrong decisions he's ever made, the determination he feels has to be a valuable indication that _this _decision is right.

They aren't best friends and he thinks they aren't even close to it. He doesn't pretend to know all of her secrets and she doesn't pretend to think she can change him.

That's something invaluable in itself.

They don't even have much in common.

She is one of the smartest in their year, is part of the Student Council and hates men. He doesn't attend most of his classes, goes on missions more than he's in school and loves women. The only commonality is the ease of their taunts and an understanding that their circles never touched and their worlds were miles apart, but there would always be room for each other's company.

It isn't much, but it's something, and compared to that lost feeling he always had back then, there is something very reassuring about what he feels now.

_Content. _

But it isn't enough, because he can't wait to get out of the Academy and has no clue as to what _she _wants to do. It is difficult to explain; it's merely something that is known and it isn't until the end of their second to last year at the Academy that he finally knows.

He doesn't need to see her every day to know that he cares. He doesn't need to talk to her constantly to know that she isn't as unaffected as she pretends to be. He doesn't need to know every little detail about her to know that he doesn't want to spend any more time away from her than he has to. He doesn't need much and he doesn't know much, but he does know this.

This should probably scare the shit out of him or confuse him.

Instead, he is more determined than he has ever been about anything in his entire life. Because _this _awakens the part of him he thought to be dead and if he knows anything, _anything, _from being at the Academy, it is that feelings like _this_, something as big and untouchable as _this_, should not be received with fear or concern or denial.

This is something to fight for.


	5. Five of Diamonds

**Disclaimer:** All recognizable characters belong to Tachibana Higuchi. This story is mine.

**Author's Note:** Thank you for the reviews! I'm getting a little too anxious to finish this. I might update a lot today depending on how I feel. :) Happy reading everyone!

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><p><em><strong>House of Cards<br>Chapter 5: Five of Diamonds**_

-;-

During their last year, he pulls out all of his old tricks, and then some.

He wouldn't call himself a romantic. He's had his share of experience with women to know their likes and dislikes, what to say and when not to talk and what expressions to sweep a woman off her feet, but he's lost when it comes to her.

It's cliché, but she's different. She's practically a guy with how immune she is to his attempts to charm her. He blames it on the Hana Hime and their complete disregard to his feelings. No matter how many chocolates he buys her or the rose petals he showers her with, she doesn't budge. No matter how many affectionate words he throws in her direction, she doesn't catch them.

She can't possibly believe him to be indifferent.

She can't.

She's a smart girl, after all.

She tells him to stop his 'antics', to stop embarrassing her.

Doesn't she see _he _is the one putting his pride on the line? The Academy took a lot from him, but his pride and his heart were the two things he tried to keep from their claws.

He was giving them to her.

Didn't she see?


	6. Call

**Disclaimer:** All recognizable characters belong to Tachibana Higuchi. This story is all mine.

**Author's Note:** Heh. Happy reading everyone (:

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><p><em><strong>House of Cards<br>Chapter 6: Call**_

-;-

He has never been concerned about his feelings for her.

They can't be helped.

Who is he to try to fight against his nature, about something he has no control over?

But when they are to graduate in two weeks, the pressure engulfs him. It's stifling, suffocating. This feeling could crush him.

His attempts to charm her started with light-hearted comments in passing before they developed into semi-extravagant displays of affection. They were something to laugh about, something people could talk about.

Now, he wants to make no mistake, wants to leave no questions unanswered, wants to make it _clear. _

If she refuses him, he doesn't want her to look back and see him as the playboy with no regard to human decency, the one that throws his words around like they mean nothing, as the one whose bark isn't as potent as his bite.

When he leaves the Academy, there will be no mistaking how he feels.

"What do you want, Tonouchi?" She keeps looking over his shoulder back to the study hall from which he's just dragged her.

Exams have started and he should probably be studying, too, but a booklet of questions doesn't even begin to make its appearance on his list of priorities.

"When will you stop referring to me with my last name?"

The teasing words aren't the ones he has stuck in his throat, but they come out automatically.

She rolls her eyes and moves to brush past him, and he doesn't know what it is that strikes him in that moment, but he pictures it as the last moment he will ever see her and the thought causes an iron weight to press against his chest until the thought of breathing makes him want to flinch.

"Wait."

She stops and that, in itself, surprises him. Normally she would merely dismiss him.

The both of them turn and his heart is beating alarmingly fast. He didn't bother practicing any words or making them up beforehand because in his head, whatever he felt would come out naturally. Now, standing in front of her, he wants to feed a crocodile his brain because apparently the damn thing has never proven its worth.

His voice is stuck in his throat.

She's probably bored, but her expressions never quite give way to real emotions and he is never certain. She is one of the most guarded people he's ever met and he can't stop wishing she will choose him to be the one she opens up to.

"Well? If you asked me to come out here to stare at me, I don't have the time to cater to your neurotic whims."

The familiar, scathing remark is at the tip of his tongue, and he wonders how the _hell_ he can always manage the stupid words and can never work out the ones that are most important.

She exhales with annoyance and turns once more.

The pressure on his chest finally bursts long enough for him to blurt out: "I love you."


	7. All In

**Disclaimer:** All recognizable characters belong to Tachibana Higuchi. This story is all mine.

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><p><em><strong>House of Cards<br>Chapter 7: All-In**_

-;-

If there is one thing he will never forget, it is the slow parting of her lips. It appears in a second and is gone in the next, but it is burned in his mind as the one moment he's ever taken her by surprise.

Her eyes are hidden by her glasses and he can't tell what she's thinking. Hell, he doesn't know what he's thinking either except that this was a long time coming and he has to be clear.

If he's going to pour his heart out, he's going to do it thoroughly, because it may be his last chance.

Let no one call him a coward.

With that thought, he straightens with resolve. "All jokes aside, you and I both knew it."

She doesn't move.

He continues with every inch of sincerity he has from within him. "Shizune, it's always been treated like a joke, but underneath it, there's always a little truth. This is it."

He takes one last breath.

"It's not easy being in love with you. You annoy me more than I can express and you never drop your guard for even a second. It's like I'm the girl in this relationship because a shoe has more emotion than you do. It hasn't been easy and I don't expect it to be from here on out. You've never made it a secret that you hate guys and I might have played a hand in that. I used to be a little shit and if I know you, you're thinking I still am.

"But you wouldn't change that about me and I wouldn't change a thing about you. Well, maybe the bit about you hating guys because then this whole thing would be pointless. But I can't imagine graduating from this place without knowing that I'll see you again and preferably with me. I wouldn't go so far as to say you've changed the very fabric of my being or something equally girly, but since the day I realized what I felt for you, I haven't been able to imagine being with any other girl.

"Yes, I did still flirt a bit, but surely you've noticed, haven't you?" He closed his eyes for a second. "I know what I want and Shizune, I want you. From everybody, I choose you for your no-nonsense personality and because you're emotionally stunted. I choose you because you don't let me get away with shit when you know I'm wrong. I choose you and I'm ready for every good and bad part of you. I choose you because, even though I don't know every little thing about you, I want to. I want to know what annoys you, what you want to be, if you want any kids, if you want to travel, if you're allergic to shellfish… I want to know everything about you, even in the not-so-innocent ways.

"I want you to choose me."

He swallows and exhales sharply. "Do you?"

He braces himself for the worst and he isn't disappointed.

"Tonouchi, no."


	8. Bluff

**Disclaimer:** All recognizable characters belong to Tachibana Higuchi. This story is all mine.

**Author's Note: **Thank you for the reviews guys (: Happy reading everyone!

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><p><em><strong>House of Cards<strong>_

_**Chapter 8: Bluff**_

-;-

He can't say he doesn't expect it, but the two words are still a shocking slap to the face. She looks up at him and her expression is as stony as always. She appears to busy herself with flicking lint or dust off her shirt before she manages to look up at him once more.

He finds it both ridiculous and so _Shizune Yamanouchi _to worry about lint when he's just poured his heart out to her.

"I appreciate the sentiments," she says airily, looking into his eyes, "—but I can't return your feelings. Tono, if you wished to keep contact with me outside the Academy, you need only ask for my email address or phone number. There was no need for—" she paused and gestured to the space between them like it was a nuisance, something dirty. "—this. I'm certain we won't lose contact with each other. Alices tend to stick together. Now if you'll excuse me, I must continue my studies."

She nods once and he won't take this bullshit for a second.

"Don't pretend everything I've said boils down to wanting to keep in _contact _with you after the Academy," he can't help but feel half-bitter and half-amused. "Don't cheapen my feelings like that. Let me make this perfectly clear: I, Tonouchi Akira, love you, Yamanouchi Shizune even though you're a complete psycho."

She rolls her eyes. "Don't be patronizing. All right," she says firmly. "You have feelings for me. Duly noted. I do not return your feelings. I hope you note _that_. I care about you, Akira, but we want different things. It's best if we leave it at that. Now if you'll excuse me."

She makes it two steps before he cannot keep his mouth shut for a moment longer.

"I know you're independent and I know I took you by surprise," his voice is soft. "Your message has been received loud and clear, but know this: there isn't a return policy for how I feel. It's not going to be something I can turn off with the flip of a switch. If, before graduation, your feelings change, I'll still be here. If, after graduation, your feelings change, find me. Chances are my feelings will always be in your favour."

Once it is clear he has finished, she speaks up in that precise voice of hers: "Best wishes with your life, Tonouchi."

She resumes her path back into the study hall as unaffected and untouched as always.

At the back of his mind, he wishes he kissed her.


	9. Fold

**Disclaimer:** All recognizable characters belong to Tachibana Higuchi. This story is mine.

**Author's Note: **One more chapter! Btw, Mab, this chapter is for you. HAHA GET IT?

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><p><em><strong>House of Cards<strong>_

_**Chapter 9: Fold**_

-;-

Life outside the Academy is different than what he expects.

It doesn't take long for men in suits to seek him out once the Academy gates close from behind him. His alice is bizarre, but incredibly useful, and it doesn't take him long to find jobs from around Japan and offers from places beyond.

The sketchy ones that remind of him the Academy are instantly refused; the others are fair game. He has even received a handful of requests to become a lab rat to find anomalies in his blood that could be made into pills for alices around the world wishing to amp up the potency of their alices.

Needless to say, he refused _that _one.

Once again, there's a lull in his life that no amount of friends, work or women can fill. Two women in the span of three months after leaving the Academy made him realize it was futile to find a substitute only _she_ could fill.

Thirteen months later, he is still waiting, and perhaps not of his own accord.

It isn't much of a choice.

Well, not until he meets Haruka, who isn't Shizune, but is a beautiful girl, inside and out.


	10. All Bets are Off

**Disclaimer:** All recognizable characters belong to Tachibana Higuchi. This story is mine.

**Author's Note: **Usually I write a message about how I'm glad you guys stuck with me until the end of the road, but considering I finished this in eight days, I suppose it wasn't a very long road. Despite that, I appreciate every single review I've gotten for this story. I admire all of those who stuck with this despite the cliche and despite being an unorthodox pairing in GA. I love all of the kind words and the funny reactions like the different emoticons I received from **pwenie** most of all. I adore the assumptions and truthfully, you guys remind me why I've been writing on GAFFN for so long. So as my last new chaptered story, I want to thank all of you readers and reviewers for taking the time to read the words stuck in my throat. I hope you enjoyed reading just as much as I enjoyed writing (:

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><p><em><strong>House of Cards<br>**__**Chapter 10: All Bets are Off**_

-;-

There are days he reflects on his life and wonders if he's had a good run.

This is where he finds himself when there are two knocks on the door. It's late, or early, and after finding the perfect nook in his couch, he wonders if getting the door is worth it. It's probably a drunken girl at the wrong door again.

There's silence for a long stretch of time and just when he begins to think he made the right choice, there are two more, succinct _too perfect_ knocks and it makes him sit up curiously.

When the curiosity gets the best of him, he stands up and opens it.

"You're not a drunk girl."

And there she is, exactly as he left her, without a hair out of place.

He doesn't expect it in the least.

"Tonouchi." She lifts her chin up almost haughtily. "How are you?"

He laughs, half-surprised and half-confused to all hell. What is she _doing _here? The last he'd heard, she was across the continent.

Baffled, he rubs his neck. "Uh, good? Not that I'm complaining about having a beautiful girl at my door, but what the hell are you doing here, Shizune?"

She purses her lips and does something very close to hand-wringing for Shizune Yamanouchi before she says, in that business-like, proper way of hers: "Hajime told me you found a girl you like." Her voice is controlled and half-sincere. "Congratulations."

Those words immediately trigger the 'women-don't-mean-what-they-say-when' part of his brain and he straightens instinctively. He doesn't mean to stare, but Shizune Yamanouchi has purposefully sought him out and damn, despite the year, she looks familiar and still goddamn sexy.

He tries, far harder than he should, to put the thought out of his mind to focus on the mind-boggling fact that she was here. _Here_.

"Shizune," the hope is forced down his throat, "—why are you really here?"

She looks down before he sees her bite the inside of her cheek.

It shouldn't have looked so cute.

She's stone-faced the next moment he blinks and looks ready to leave, and because he knows her, knows how difficult this must have been, he steps away from the doorway to make room for her to come in.

She looks like she's about to refuse until he takes the arm lying uselessly at her side and tugs her gently towards him. "It's two o'clock in the morning and you're wandering around Tokyo because you happened to be in the area?"

He looks down at her and all of his thoughts fly out of the window except one, just one.

He kisses her, then, like he should have whenever the thought came to his mind. It's just a brush of lips, a hello of sorts, but one that he wants to give her everyday. "I did find a girl I like," a chuckle escapes him. "It'll always be you."

This close, Tono finally sees the response he's been waiting for.

**…and the rest is still unwritten…**

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><p><em>My Hopeless Romantic<em>

Completed: December 10, 2011


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